In his four years in the NHS music department, Alden Ruth has seen it all. Crowds of unfamiliar faces scattered around large auditoriums. A momentous freeze that often falls over the glittering dancers as the musicians end their final notes. The lights above shine brightly onto the stage, although the performance given has become brighter than any bulb.

Ruth has been a key member in the many programs the Noblesville band has to offer, like jazz band, concert band, marching band, and show choir band. Ever since his middle school years, band has been a prominent part of Ruth’s education, where he learned to play multiple instruments in a variety of performance areas.

“I started playing the trombone in eighth grade for a jazz band,” Ruth said. “I played in the lower jazz band at East [middle school], but before in 6th grade, I played the baritone all the way up to 8th grade.”

But Ruth’s experience in jazz band didn’t end in middle school. He carried on his musical skills into high school and worked his way up the ranks of the bands in just over a year.    

“I’ve been in jazz band all throughout high school. My freshman year, I started out in jazz five which was the lowest jazz band at the time, and then my sophomore year, I jumped up to the highest band [Jazz One] and I’ve been a part of that the last three years,” Ruth said.

Moving into Jazz One is already a challenge for any NHS student, as the band has enjoyed tremendous success in the past few years. They’ve been ranked nationally and were even invited to the Ellington Jazz Band Competition in 2021 and 2022, a competition spotlighting 15 of the best high school jazz bands across the country. The award-winning groups traveled to New York City for the competition, performing in the renowned Lincoln Center surrounded by some of the country’s best high school jazz musicians. 

“[Ellington] was really cool. My sophomore year it was all online, which wasn’t as fun, but [it] was still a good experience as we got to watch some great musicians,” Ruth said. “My junior year, we went to New York which was awesome. We got to hangout with these professional musicians at the Lincoln Center, and it was just a great time.”

Ruth’s jazz band success has not gone unnoticed. Jazz director Bethany Robinson, who has helped direct Ruth throughout high school, is one of many who has taken notice of Ruth’s talent.

“Alden has always been a very dedicated student, and he’s gotten better each and every year through lessons, learning how to play in combos and how to blend in a big band, and also is more proficient at reading [music],” Robinson said, “so the show choir shows and jazz band music is learned more quickly each and every year” 

Like his instructors, Ruth’s peers like junior Daniel Carrington, also realize Ruth’s hardworking personality brings him to another level of musicianship.

“Alden is good as a trombone player because he practices a lot, he has a good musician’s mindset,” Carrington said. “Alden can definitely be construed as a talented musician. I can see him being on a professional level in the future.” 

The professional stage is where Ruth hopes to find himself in the future, as he plans to continue playing the trombone after he graduates high school and college. 

“In college, I’m looking to go into Jazz Studies,” Ruth said. “I plan to keep playing through college and hopefully make it my career. I [want to] get a double major in Jazz studies and massage therapy, so I can still play the trombone and do gigs as I choose to.”

Yet Ruth finds his time spent playing music in a band most enjoyable because of the people in the band, not just the music he plays. Ruth believes the companionship is the best part about being in band.         

“Throughout band, the best part is that you get to do it with your best friends. The days can be long and tiring but being able to do it with some of your best friends and getting to play music with them is just really awesome,” Ruth said. 

THE MAIN EVENT

Even though Alden Ruth’s journey on the trombone began by playing jazz, his instrument has become of more use than with just jazz styles. Ruth is a participant in several ensembles in the school’s music department and one of those being a show choir band. Playing in a show choir band requires a different skill set than a concert band, something senior trumpet player Anthony Beeman noticed immediately.

“Show choir music is not a classic piece like a concert band, and we’re not the focus when we play. The people come to see the show choir and not us, so we have to be careful to not overpower them,” Beeman said. “The competitions are super-fun. It’s early mornings and late nights, but you get to hang out with everybody during it, so that makes it more enjoyable.”

Along with performing, many members of the band get to fully experience the competitive atmosphere, including the lengthy schedule of the participants. The competitions can be time consuming, but according to Daniel Carrington, the long days are not a negative.

“We wake up sometimes as early as 3 a.m. and usually don’t get back home until around 1 a.m., so they’re usually around 22-hour-long days for us,” Carrington said, “which is honestly really cool, because I get to spend it with some of my closest friends.”

The amount of time members dedicate to the band for competitions isn’t the only time they have to set aside it. The band practices multiple times a week in order to prepare their music for the show choir sets. 

“The show choir does about 10 rehearsals to prepare [their] music. For the harder tunes, we will take the tunes very slowly and methodically, and write in hints along the way,” Bethany Robinson said. 

These musicians’ hard work has continuously been recognized. The show choir band, better known as the Main Event, has picked up “best band” awards at many of the competitions they have performed at over the past few years. 

“Winning ‘Best Band’ is definitely a cool feeling. Our music department has two varsity show choirs, and they’re both very prestigious, award-winning programs that have great mentors behind them who help lead us,” Carrington said. 

Though these musicians try not to stay complacent, as they know they can always get better. They’ve gotten awards and trophies often but they know they won’t always win and will still need to continue to improve.

“It makes the times we don’t win more awakening, letting us know that we’re not [going to] win every time and we actually have to try and get better,” Beeman said. “At one of our most recent competitions we didn’t get “Best Band” and some of the bands we saw were very good, and that was an eye-opener for us.”